Characteristics Luke 4:16-21NKJ
Jessica Hagy speaking at Pop! Tech 2007, gives 10 Characteristics of very interesting people: Adventurous, Generous, Active, Strange, Caring, Humble, Daring, Original, Brave, Self-assured
Here’s a good definition for Characteristic: A feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify it. Jesus the Son of God had defining characteristics, so let’s read about them.
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Remember Jesus had just experienced a defining moment while in the wilderness for 40 day’s and night’s tempted by satan; Therefore, during His departure from this desert climate, wisdom, authority and power from the Holy Spirit brought out Jesus’ characteristics to the surface.
Look at verse 1 again, Jesus was compelled to go back to Nazareth a very simple place, lowly and humble- His home town. (The NLT say’s, Jesus’ boyhood home.)
Remember this, Defining moments come into your life among the common and ordinary. Everyone thinks, “Awe, when I arrive, ‘I’ll show them!”
God say’s- Begin in your back yard! Presently, seek God for change, Ask Him to encircle your life now, give you a loving Spirit- a victories attitude.
Victorious Attitude by James Kisner
You cannot win the race, unless you follow through.
You cannot blame the others, for it all depends on you.
You cannot win the battle, if you do not raise your sword.
You cannot claim a victory, if there is no reward. You cannot shape the future, if you wait until it's here.The future has no purpose, if you live today in fear. Your future lies within your hand, to do with what you may. For tomorrow brings results, of what you've done today.
The choices that you make today, reflect the life you seek.
But first of all, the seeds are sown, before the gardener reaps. The future's like a lump of clay, you hold within your hand. As time goes by, the clay gets hard, so mould it while you can. Failure is an attitude, that haunts the mind of man. But, results will be successful, for the one who knows HE CAN!
In Luke 4:17NLT The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
Jesus intentionally found Isaiah 61, and begin to read. Luke 4:18-19TM God’s Spirit is on me; He’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”
Jesus proclaims- I’m chosen to preach the Good News to the poor.
* Those who’ve come to wits-end; those who recognize their emptiness.
I’ve been sent to announce pardon to prisoners.
Those bound by satan, things, addictions, abnormal behaviors, low self-esteem, darkness from the past.
Hear this Gentile verse in Isaiah 60:19-20NKJ “The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory. 20 Your sun shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For the Lord will be your everlasting light, And the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Remember someone can’t proclaim and act upon characteristics they don’t have.
On the Andy Griffith Show episode "Man in a Hurry"- Malcolm Tucker is a wealthy business man from Charlotte. One Sunday he happens to have car trouble a couple of miles outside of Mayberry. Malcolm walks the rest of the way to town and meets Andy coming out of Sunday morning worship.
Andy offers to assist Malcolm but warns that it is nearly impossible to get anything done on a Sunday in Mayberry. Malcolm begins to lose patience when Wally, the filling station owner, refuses to fix his car because it is his policy not to work on Sunday. Furthermore, Malcolm is dumbfounded when he learns that he can't even use the telephone because the elderly Mindelbright sisters use the party line to visit on Sunday afternoons, since they are unable to get around very well.
Back at the Taylor house, things don't get much better for Malcolm. He explodes screaming that the citizens of Mayberry are living in another world--that this is the twentieth century, and while the whole world is living in a desperate space age, the town of Mayberry shuts down because two old ladies' feet fall asleep.
Out on the front porch Malcolm actually begins to relax as Barney and Andy sing the old spiritual "Church in the Wildwood." But this calm is short lived when Gomer informs Malcolm that his cousin Goober has offered to fix the car. Later, when Gomer returns with the car, Malcolm is surprised that there is no charge for the repair since it was just a clogged fuel line. Goober actually considered it an honor to work on such a fine machine.
As Malcolm prepares to leave, he stops and contemplates the events of the afternoon as well as his return to the activities of his hectic life. Malcolm realizes that the very characteristics of Mayberry life that initially frustrated him so much are, in fact, the priorities he needs to establish in his own life. He decides to put his business on hold and stay the night in Mayberry.
Jesus proclaims, “I’ve come to give recovery of sight to the blind.”
Loss hope, no future, those who’ve been assaulted by the god of this world. Those who call good, evil and evil, good. The blind, those that can’t see right from wrong; those who’ve lost their way.
The Father sent His Son, Verse 18 say’s, so that the oppressed will be set free, The Message Bible say’s, To set the burdened and battered free,
Those messed up, broken, the throw-aways, the nobodies.
Luke 4:19C…“This is God’s year to act!” Another translation say’s, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.
Presently, To those who’ll receive this word, “I proclaim God’s favor over you this moment forward!’ ‘You’ll never have anything unless you’ll receive it, so get it!” (This is your year of Jubilee!)
Jesus rolled the scroll up, gave it back to the official and said, “Today these scriptures you’ve just heard make history. It came true just now in this place. Verse 21NLT Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
Can I remind every Child of God in this place today, that your DNA is a complete match unto your elder brother- Jesus Christ.
* The characteristics He has, you have, so receive it.
Colossians 1:19-22NLT For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
Benediction.
